Appalachia Resist!, an organization recently formed to address exploitative gas and oil extraction in Appalachia, along with Ohio residents and other environmental organizations have blockaded and disrupted operations at Greenhunter Water’s hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” waste storage site along the Ohio River in Washington County. Nate Ebert, a 33-year-old Athens County, OH resident and member of Appalachia Resist!, ascended a 30 foot monopod (pole), anchored to a truck that was dropping off toxic frack waste at the facility, preventing all trucks carrying frack waste from entering the site! Two banners have also been hung from two different tanks holding fracking waste. The main gate to the facility has been locked shut by activist. All gates have been blocked and all action at the site has been halted. Full press release here!

The mining of carcinogenic bitumen is powered by gas obtained from hydraulic fracturing which can NOT be done safely and should not be done at all. This is NOT a debate. We stand in opposition not only to TransCanada and their Keystone XL Pipeline but to all corporations and entities who function only by the direct suffering of others. Members of the blockade have traveled to Southern Ohio to participate in an action with an unprecedented show of unity joining members of the following groups: Appalachia Resist!, Radical Action for Mountain Peoples’ Survival (RAMPS), a coalition of indigenous leaders including representatives from No Line 9 and the Unis’tot’en Camp, Tar Sands Blockade, Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance, and dozens of Earth First! groups from across the country.

“Our governor, legislature, and regulatory agencies have all failed in their obligation to protect Ohioans from the predatory gas industry,” said Ebert. “Greenhunter wants to use our water sources as dumping grounds for their toxic, radioactive waste. We are here to send a message that the people of Ohio and Appalachia will not sit idly by and watch our homes be turned into a sacrifice zone!”

Tar Sands Blockade stands in solidarity with Appalachia Resist, Ohio residents, and all those fighting dangerous and exploitative resource extraction world wide.

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Permanent link to this article: https://tarsandsblockade.org/appalacha_resist/